Sweep shuttle feeder

ABSTRACT

A sweep shuttle animal feeder of the type having a feed trough which reciprocates above a feed bunk that is about twice the length of the trough so that feed deposited into the reciprocating trough from a feed supply station above the midpoint of the bunk may be dropped from the trough along the bunk by the action of two sets of sweep means that are pivoted above the path of travel of the trough with a set on each side of the feed supply station for selectively controlling relative movement between the deposited feed and the trough. The sweep means of the set through which the leading end of the trough is passing at any given time pass over feed in the trough while the sweep means of the set through which the trailing end of the trough is passing at any given time arrest feed in the trough so that it drops off the trailing end. The trough is made up of a plurality of longitudinal sections so articulated to compensate for straightness irregularities in the tracks supporting the trough, with each section being pivotally connected to the adjacent section at the bottom of the trough and also interconnected at the top of the trough for relative longitudinal movement with each section being provided with a pair of trolleys spaced from the joint between trough sections for supporting the same on the track. The motive means for reciprocating the trough along the feed bunk includes a cable extending from each end of the trough outwardly to a power source in a manner that the power source always pulls the trough, regardless of the direction of movement, to eliminate compressive forces on the trough.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Robert G. Ferris Harvard, Ill.

[21] Appl. No. 17,492

[22] Filed Mar. 9, 1970 [45] Patented June 1, 1971 [73] AssigneeStarline, Inc.

[54] SWEEP SHUTTLE FEEDER Primary Examiner-Aldrich F. MedberyAttorney-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & McCord ABSTRACT: A sweepshuttle animal feeder of the type having a feed trough whichreciprocates above a feed bunk that is about twice the length of thetrough so that feed deposited into the reciprocating trough from a feedsupply station above the midpoint of the bunk may be dropped from thetrough along the bunk by the action of two sets of sweep means that arepivoted above the path of travel of the trough with a set on each sideof the feed supply station for selectively controlling relative movementbetween the deposited feed and the trough. The sweep means of the setthrough which the leading end of the trough is passing at any given timepass over feed in the trough while the sweep means of the set throughwhich the trailing end of the trough is passing at any given time arrestfeed in the trough so that it drops off the trailing end. The trough ismade up of a plurality of longitudinal sections so articulated tocompensate for straightness irregularities in the tracks supporting thetrough, with each section being pivotally connected to the adjacentsection at the bottom of the trough and also interconnected at the topof the trough for relative longitudinal movement with each section beingprovided with a pair of trolleys spaced from the joint between troughsections for supporting the same on the track. The motive means forreciprocating the trough along the feed bunk includes a cable extendingfrom each end of the trough outwardly to a power source in a manner thatthe power source always pulls the trough, regardless of the direction ofmovement, to eliminate compressive forces on the trough.

PATENTEUJUN Man I 358L712 sum 3 UF 3 rim . Tm P h H WINE/f1 I SWEEPSHUTTLE FEEDER BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present sweepshuttle feeder is of the general type disclosed in the Ferris et al.U.S. Pat. application, Ser. No. 829,993, filed June 3, I969, assigned tothe assignee of the present invention. Generally, the device disclosedin the prior application is a sweep shuttle feeder of the type having aplurality of sweep means on each side of a central feed loading locationthat act to arrest material in the feed trough as the sweep means passover the trailing end of the trough, thereby discharging feed materialsfrom the trailing end.

Each of the sweep means provided in the prior application includes notonly a sweep panel, provided for discharging the granular materialsprimarily, but also sweep tines mounted adjacent each of the sweeppanels for the purpose of arresting and discharging the denser materialsthat the sweep panels have a tendency to ride over. The tines dig intothe heavier haylage where the sweep panels which have rounded ends havedifficulty in so doing. I

The reciprocating trough is approximately one-half the length of thefeed bunk over which the trough reciprocates, and feed materials aredischarged therefrom over one-half the length of the feed bunk on eachstroke of the trough across the entire length of the bunk. On thesucceeding stroke the sweep shuttle feeder discharges material into theother half of the feed bunk.

For reciprocably mounting the feed trough, a plurality of trolleys areprovided on the trough which engage and ride on stationary overheadtracks. While the above described sweep shuttle feeder has been foundvery successful in many applications, there is a limitation on thelength of the tracks and the trough, and thus of the feed bunk, due todifficulties in avoiding vertical and horizontal deviations fromstraightness in the track and the trough. It is most difficult to avoidvertical deviations over an extended length due to undulations in thefeed bunk and the adjacent ground level. Moreover, misalignmentsobviously will occur as a result of assembling the tracks over asignificant length. The same problem of obtaining straightness appliesto the trough itself.

Quite clearly, if the trough is out of horizontal alignment with respectto the track some of the trolleys supporting the trough on the track mayleave the track, creating an instability in the trough, possiblyinterfering with the trough supporting structure and possibly evencausing the trough to leave the track entirely.

It is a primary object of the present invention to eliminate or minimizethe disadvantages of the prior shuttle sweep construction when appliedto troughs and feed bunks of great length.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION In accordance with the presentinvention, a sweep shuttle animal feeder is provided of the typegenerally described above but particularly adapted to compensate forirregularities in the trough supporting structure due to the extendedlength thereof. The trough is made in a plurality of articulatedsections, each with its own trolley riding on a track of the supportingstructure, so that the trough can flex or undulate in a vertical planeas it travels down the track.

To provide this articulation between trough sections, a hinge strap isprovided at the bottom of the trough interconnecting adjacent sections.The hinge strap is fastened to the sections by resilient washers thatpermit pivoting one section relative to the adjacent section. Forinterconnecting the adjacent portions of the trough sections at the topsthereof, an additional strap is provided fastened to the trough sectionsby bolts, there being provided elongated apertures in the strap for someof the fasteners permitting longitudinal movement of the upper portionof each trough section with respect to the adjacent portion of theadjoining trough section.

Since the trough according to the present invention is articulated, itis undesirable to place the trough under a compressive load since thismay have a tendency to cause the trolleys associated with the interiortrough sections to leave the track as a result of the trough bucklingsomewhat. To eliminate this problem there is provided according to thepresent invention a cable drive connected to each end of the trough andextending outwardly to a source of power for the purpose of pulling thetrough in each direction of movement along the feed bunk. Thus, thetrough is always in tension and there is no tendency for it to buckle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic sideelevational view of a sweep shuttle feeder embodying the presentinvention with parts broken away for clarity and illustration, and withthe feed trough and feed bunk partly broken away to reduce the drawingsize;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale takensubstantially as indicated along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view on an enlarged scaleillustrating an interconnection between two trough sections;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of FIG. 3 illustrating the hinged jointbetween two adjacent trough sections; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top view taken generally along line 55 of FIG.4, illustrating the upper connection between adjacent trough sections.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, andparticularly FIGS. 1 and 2, the present structure is seen to include afeed bunk B; supporting means indicated generally at 15; a feed troughindicated generally at 16 which is mounted for reciprocating movement ona supporting means above the feed trough; a set of sweep means 17 anda'set of sweep means 18 which are on opposite sides of a feed supplystation 19; and a drive means 20 for reciprocating the feed trough.

The supporting means 15 includes hangers 21 which may be bolted to anysupporting structure such as the rafters of a barn or, in the case of anoutdoor feed bunk, a separate wooden framework which includes crossmembers W carried upon any supporting members desired which may bemounted on the sides of the feed bunk or in the ground along side thefeed bunk. As best seen in FIG. 2, at the lower ends of hangers 21 areangle members 22 which support a pair of continuous, parallel rails 23from which the feed trough 16 is suspended for reciprocating movement.Mounted on the rails 23 at intervals are brackets 24 which are mountedin pairs with the brackets of a pair being transversely aligned with oneanother with each pair of brackets serving to support sweep means,generally indicated at 25 for the sweep means of the left-hand set 17,and 26 for the sweep means of the right-hand set 18.

The feed trough 16 is an articulated, sectioned sheet metal structurewhich is generally U-shaped in cross section with each section having abottom wall 27 and sidewalls 28 which terminate at their upper ends inoutwardly extending flanges 29 beneath which are upper splice plates 30which assist in interconnecting the trough sections.

As seen in FIG. 1 the trough 16 is made up of a plurality of sections asindicated at 60, 61 and 62 in FIG. 1, although it should be understoodthat more than three trough sections are contemplated in the presentconstruction but that only three have been shown for clarity. Morespecifically, the present invention can easily accommodate a troughlength of I50 feet with each trough section 60, 61 and 62 beingapproximately I0 feet in length. The present articulated construction ofthe sections permits total trough lengths more than twice the length ofthose presently being used.

As seen more clearly in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 the upper splice plates 30 havetwo elongated apertures 65 and 66 therein which receive fasteners 67, 68extending through the trough flange 29. The elongated apertures 65, 66permit relative longitudinal movement between the splice plate 30 andtrough section 60. The splice plate is rigidly connected to the adjacenttrough section 61 by fasteners 70 and 71 which extend through the flange29 associated with section 61 and apertures 72 in the splice plate 30which are not elongated as apertures 65 and 66. The fasteners 70 and 71also extend through a flange a ofa trough mounting bracket 35 for thepurpose of securing the a mounting bracket to the trough section in amanner so that the bracket mounting does not interfere with articulatedmovement between the trough sections as permitted by the elongatedapertures 65 and 66.

For interconnecting the bottom of adjacent trough sections, an anglesplice plate 31 is provided as shown clearly in FlGS. 2 and 4. Thesplice plate 31 extends across the bottoms of the adjacent floor members27 and has a plurality of sets of apertures 75 and 76 therein whichreceive threaded fasteners 78 and 79. The fasteners 78 and 79 includenuts 80 and 81 which are separated from the splice plate by resilientwashers 83 and 84. The resilient washers 83 and 84 may be made ofasuitable material such as rubber.

Resilient washers 83 and 84 permit the adjacent trough sections to pivotrelative to each other about a horizontal axis generally located at thebottom of the trough between sections. This can be viewed by the dottedlocation of section 61 in FIG. 3. The upper hinge plate 30 allowslimited longitudinal motion of the upper adjacent portions of the troughsections and thus accommodates the greater pivotal movement adjacent thelower portions of the trough sections. In this manner each of the troughsections is pivotally connected to the adjacent section and the entiretrough assembly 16 is articulated to accommodate flexing or undulatingdeflections in a vertical plane.

As seen in FlGS. 2 and 3 trough mounting brackets 35 are secured to theflanges 29 by bolts 70, 71, there being provided one pair of opposedbrackets 35 for each trough section 60, 61, 62. The brackets 35 carryinwardly extending pins 36 in which are journaled grooved wheels 37which ride on the tracks 23 to support the trough 16.

The pins 36 have an extended length to accommodate shifting of thewheels 37 with respect thereto and in this manner compensate for anonparallel relationship between the opposed tracks 23.

The sweep means 25 and 26 are identical, so only one set of sweep means25 will be described in detail, As seen in FIG. 2 the sweep means ofeach set 17 and 18 are adapted to swing with respect to the feed supplystation 19, so that the sweep means 25 and 26 pivot in oppositedirections with respect to the centerline of the unit.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sweep means 25 includes atransverse shaft 38 which is pivotally mounted in the brackets 24, andkeyed to one end of the shaft is an angle member 39 which limitsrotation of the shaft as described in more detail in the above-mentionedFerris et al. patent application.

Pivotally mounted on the shaft 38 is a panel sweep member, indicatedgenerally at 40, which is formed of a pair of angle members 41,,each ofwhich has an apertured web 410 by means of which it is pivoted on theshaft, and a sweep panel 42 which is welded to the angle members 41 andhas a rolled lower end 420.

Also provided are sweep tine means comprising a pair of sweep tines 43as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of which is substantially channel shapedand engages a key 38a on the shaft 38 and is clamped by means of a boltand nut (not shown). Thus, the tines 43 pivot only with the shaft 38 andthe stop or angle member 39 prevents the tines from swinging past agenerally vertical position toward the feed supply means 19.

As best seen in FIG. 1 when the sweep means 25 hangs free, as seen atthe left side of the drawing, the upper edge of the sweep panel 42 bearsagainst the tines 43 so that the sweep panel member occupies theposition illustrated in the drawings.

The granular feed material which is readily penetrated by the curled end420 of the sweep panel 40 is arrested thereby and drops off the trailingend of the feed trough 16. With extremely densely packed haylage,however, the sweep panel member 40 may penetrate the material veryslightly and merely arrest a rather thin layer of the material near thetop, while movement of the mass of the material relative to the troughfloor 27 is effected by the action of the tine means 43 which aresufficiently pointed to dig into the mass and hold it.

As seen at the right-hand side of FIG. 2, the means for selectivelymoving material relative to the trough 16 also includes means generallyindicated at 45 for elevating a selected sweep panel member 40 when theleading end of the trough 16 is passing through the set (in this casethe set 17) of sweep means which includes the selected sweep panelmember. The elevating means 45 includes a cam device 46 which isfabricated from an angle member and mounted upon one of the longitudinaltrough flanges 29 so that a web of said angle member which has aninclined face 47 projects into the path of a cam follower pin 48 whichis pivotally mounted on shaft 38 by means of bifurcated arm means 49.One end of the pin 48 slides along the cam surface 47 while the otherend portion is aligned with one of the angle members 41 of the panelsweep 40. Thus, as the pin 48 rides up the cam surface 47 it is movedinto contact with the panel sweep 40 and elevates the latter. When thepin 48 is again clear of the cam member 46 by reason of continuedmovement of the trough 16 to the left, it pivots clear to the sweeppanel angle member so that the sweep panel member is again supported bythe floor 27 of the trough. Thus, a small amount of material which isinsufficient to lift the sweep panel member 40, is permitted to passbeneath the elevated sweep panel member and be arrested when the sweeppanel member is again resting on the floor of the trough with a smallquantity of material between the roller end 42 of the panel member andthe adjacent end of the trough.

The means 20 for reciprocating the trough includes an electric motor 50having a shaft on which is mounted a drive pulley 51 which receives adrive belt 52 that is drivingly connected to a first drive pulley 55,Belt 52 also drives belt 56 through shaft 57, and belt 56 drives asecond drive pulley 59. An idler pulley is provided adjacent each of thedrive pulleys 55 and 59 for receiving the outgoing portions and 91,respectively, of cable 89. The idler pulleys (not shown) are cantedslightly from a vertical plane such that the cable can feed off thebottom of the idler pulleys to the top of the drive pulleys withoutcausing climbing or abrasive wear. Thus, the drive unit 20 isconstructed to pull cable portion 90, extending over idler pulleys 92and 93 and interconnected to the left end of the trough at 94, for thepurpose of pulling the trough 16 in its leftward direction of movement.To effect the right movement of trough 16 cable portion 91, extendingaround idler pulleys 95 and 96 and connected at 98 to the right end ofthe trough 16, is pulled by the cable drive 20.

lclaim:

l. A sweep shuttle animal feeder, comprising: frame means adapted to bepositioned adjacent a feed bunk; a feed trough supported on said framemeans for reciprocating movement along the feed bunk, said feed troughincluding a plurality of sections each including a bottom wall andupright sidewalls having lower extremities connected to the bottom walland having upper extremities, and horizontally disposed transverse pivotmeans interconnecting adjacent trough sections for articulated movementin a vertical plane so the sidewalls at one of said extremities havelimited relative longitudinal movement; means for reciprocating saidfeed trough along said frame means by applying pulling force to thetrough substantially in the horizontal plane occupied by the transversepivot means; and means overlying the trough and resting on the bottomwall thereof for discharging feed from an end of the trough as thetrough is reciprocated.

2. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 1, wherein saidmeans for reciprocating the trough includes cable means connected toeach end of the trough and extending outwardly from the trough generallyparallel thereto.

3. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 2, wherein saidreciprocating means includes power means on said frame means, pulleymeans on said frame means adjacent each end of the feed bunk, said cablemeans extending around said pulley means and extending to said powermeans for movement thereof.

4. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 3, wherein saidpower means is located above said feed trough approximately centrallywith respect to said frame means, said pulley means including a pair ofvertically spaced pulleys at each end of the frame means.

5. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 1, saidinterconnecting means including a pivot at one of said extremities ofthe sidewalls and means interconnecting adjacent trough sections forlimited longitudinal movement at the other of said extremities of thesidewalls.

6. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 5 in which thepivot is'at the bottom wall.

7. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 6,

strap means associated with one of said sections receiving said fastenermeans and permitting said longitudinal movement.

8. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 1 in which theframe means includes track means, the trough includes wheels rolling onsaid track means, on transverse axles, and in which said wheels are freeto slide along said axles to accommodate to deviations of said trackmeans from a straight line in a horizontal plane.

1. A sweep shuttle animal feeder, comprising: frame means adapted to bepositioned adjacent a feed bunk; a feed trough supported on said framemeans for reciprocating movement along the feed bunk, said feed troughincluding a plurality of sections each including a bottom wall andupright sidewalls having lower extremities connected to the bottom walland having upper extremities, and horizontally disposed transverse pivotmeans interconnecting adjacent trough sections for articulated movementin a vertical plane so the sidewalls at one of said extremities havelimited relative longitudinal movement; means for reciprocating saidfeed trough along said frame means by applying pulling force to thetrough substantially in the horizontal plane occupied by the transversepivot means; and means overlying the trough and resting on the bottomwall thereof for discharging feed from an end of the trough as thetrough is reciprocated.
 2. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined inclaim 1, wherein said means for reciprocating the trough includes cablemeans connected to each end of the trough and extending outwardly fromthe trough generally parallel thereto.
 3. A sweep shuttle animal feederas defined in claim 2, wherein said reciprocating means includes powermeans on said frame means, pulley means on said frame means adjacenteach end of the feed bunk, said cable means extending around said pulleymeans and extending to said power means for movement thereof.
 4. A sweepshuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 3, wherein said power means islocated above said feed trough approximately centrally with respect tosaid frame means, said pulley means including a pair of verticallyspaced pulleys at each end of the frame means.
 5. A sweep shuttle animalfeeder as defined in claim 1, said interconnecting means including apivot at one of said extremities of the sidewalls and meansinterconnecting adjacent trough sections for limited longitudinalmovement at the other of said extremities of the sidewalls.
 6. A sweepshuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 5 in which the pivot is at thebottom wall.
 7. A sweep shuttle animal feeder as defined in claim 6,wherein said means interconnecting said sections for pivotal movementincludes at least one hinge strap extending across the bottom of eachadjacent trough section, fastener means extending through said hingestrap, and resilient washer means on said fastener means to permit saidpivotal movement, said means for interconnecting the adjacent troughsections for limited longitudinal movement including strap meansextending across the adjacent trough sections at the upper portionsthereof, fastener means interconnecting said strap means and theadjacent trough sections, and elongated apertures in said strap meansassociated with one of said sections receiving said fastener means andpermitting said longitudinal movement.
 8. A sweep shuttle animal feederas defined in claim 1 in which the frame means includes track means, thetrough includes wheels rolling on said track means, on transverse axles,and in which said wheels are free to slide along said axles toaccommodate to deviations of said track means from a straight line in ahorizontal plane.